 Those who come to our national forests for their scenic beauty, natural resources and recreational opportunities know the value of maps and guidebooks. They also know these aids are no substitute for paying close attention to what their own eyes and their first-hand experience can tell them. The same holds true for the forest roads and the men and women who work on them. All roads in this forest are covered by written guidelines and maintenance schedules, describing individual roads and planned maintenance for those roads. But these guidelines are prepared months in advance and often aren't enough by themselves to ensure that the job is effectively done. Remember, field conditions are always changing. Use your experience to read the trouble signs on each road you work on, making sure that the repairs undertaken are right for this road at this time. Accurately identifying the cause and extent of a problem and repairing the road accordingly saves considerable time and money. Moreover, proper repair work will also minimize road-induced environmental damage. In this program, we're going to take a look at some of the things you need to be aware of as you read the traveled way, before beginning expensive and time-consuming repair work with heavy equipment. We'll identify common problems on the traveled way, their causes and the solutions, both short-term and long-term. A well-designed and maintained road drainage system directs and disperses water away from a road surface into ditch lines and down onto a protected slope below the road. This action allows any sediment collected by the water to settle out as the water soaks into the ground. The traveled way, the part of the road actually used by vehicles exclusive of shoulders, must drain well enough to accommodate peak volumes of water during heavy storms. To see how this is accomplished, let's take a look at how unpaved roads typical of those found in our national forests are designed. The major parts of a road are the uphill cut slope, the roadside ditch, the shoulders, the traveled way, the surfacing, the subgrade and the downhill fill slope. Among unpaved roads, there are three primary templates, in-sloped, out-sloped and crowned. Each has its own means of getting water off the traveled way and dispersed into the environment. The traveled way of an in-sloped road moves water toward the adjacent hill, the cut slope. An out-sloped road slants away from the adjacent hill, so water is distributed in a wide dispersed flow off the traveled way and down the fill slope. A crowned road is higher at the center than at the edges, causing water to flow outward toward both shoulders. Several different water handling structures may also be associated with any of these templates. The first are the surface cross drains. These cross drains of various types are often constructed across the traveled way to divert water from the road. Ditch relief culverts, on the other hand, are installed entirely below the traveled way. They allow water to pass from a roadside ditch to a stable area on the other side of the road without passing over the road surface. Finally, live stream culverts allow streams to cross under roads. They also are built entirely beneath the traveled way. Of course, no matter how well a road is designed and built, wear and tear will eventually cause its traveled way to degrade, making repairs necessary. Let's take a look at some common problems that develop on unpaved roads, identify their causes, and determine some short-term and long-term solutions for making repairs. Trutting is one common occurrence, especially on unpaved roads. Normally, water should move off the road as quickly as possible and disperse into the landscape. But here, surface water is being concentrated in tire tracks, resulting in increased erosion of the road surface. The solution is to reshape the road's surface to restore the original template. It might be necessary to install one or more surface grains to solve the basic problem causing the rubbing. Another common problem found on the traveled way is washboarding, or chatter bumps. Vehicle wheels bouncing on the road surface creates washboarding. Ironically, this problem causes wheels to bounce even more. This kind of damage is often found on roads where the soil and gravel have poor binding qualities. Adding binding materials can help prevent further washboarding by holding the road surface together. To fix it requires cutting down to the bottom of the washboarding, reshaping and restoring the road surface to the correct template. Potholes are a road surface problem we're all familiar with and quick to complain about. The majority of potholes are caused by traffic on roads with poor surface drainage. Potholes must be completely cut out and the surface reshaped to restore drainage. Simply filling in the holes won't solve the problem and the potholes will soon reappear. The condition that precedes road surface problems is a destroyed road template. This condition is indicated by stretches of road that are flat or concave when they should be in-slope, out-slope, or crown. The primary cause of a destroyed template is not blading the road often enough, but it can also be improper blading techniques, a loss of road surfacing, heavy traffic or improper road design and construction. The best way to repair a destroyed template is to redefine it. Preventive maintenance could make this work unnecessary, saving both time and money. When you're working on a road, look for cracks. They're the result of soil shifting under the road and may indicate that the road is beginning to slump or slide. If the crack is small, put filled dirt in it and compact the area by carefully rolling with equipment tires, or you may have to reshape the road. If the crack is large, you'll need to place barricades or other traffic devices to protect the public. Cracks may indicate basic structural flaws in the road that could pose a safety hazard. Significant cracks should be reported to your supervisor. In areas where soil types such as volcanic ash are present, a common problem on the traveled way is flour or fluff. Do not try to blade the traveled way if large quantities of flour are present. The resulting dust cloud will only make the problem worse. Resolving this problem requires removal of unsatisfactory material and adding aggregate road surfacing. Loss of surfacing is another common problem on the traveled way. Loss of surfacing material, whether native or gravel, tends to be most noticeable within the wheel tracks. Another way of verifying surface loss is by looking for large rocks or culverts that are exposed through the road surface. Normal wear and tear from traffic is one cause of surface loss. However, another major cause is improper blading. It's very important to keep all surfacing on the traveled way when performing maintenance work. Remember, replacing surfacing is expensive and unfortunately the only solution to this problem. Excessive vegetation on the road can impede travel and cause a vehicle safety hazard by minimizing sight distance. But remove only the vegetation that's jeopardizing vehicle safety because vegetation also works to reduce erosion of the road and its surroundings by holding the soil together and slowing the flow of water over the ground. As you continue looking for clues to the condition of the traveled way, check for signs of water bypassing cross drains and continuing down the road. Visible erosion directly beyond a drain is a sign that this is happening. One cause could be the drain is plugged up with debris. If so, clean it out. If the drain is clear but still shows signs of erosion, additional cross drains might be needed to handle the volume of water. As a rule of thumb, the steeper the grade, the closer the spacing between drains. Cattle guards installed along the road may periodically require maintenance and repair. Just untended, the gap caused by bent or misaligned bars like this one could catch a bicycle or motorcycle tire. Missing or bent bars and gaps between cattle guard sections should be fixed as soon as possible. Clean all cattle guards that are filled with sediment. The sediment results from surface runoff or from material carelessly bladed into the cattle guard. If surface runoff appears to be the problem, it may be an indication that work is needed on the road's drainage system. As you come to each bridge, check carefully for visible signs of damage on the bridge deck, piers and abutments. Take care not to move road surfacing material onto the bridge. If it's ground into the deck by tires, this material can damage the structure of the bridge itself. If there's already road surfacing material on the bridge, it should be removed as soon as possible. Implement methods to minimize sediment reaching the stream during deck cleaning operations. While removing this material, take care to avoid damaging the bridge with your equipment. Finally, if applicable, inspect fords for signs of damage. Keep in mind that some fords are reinforced with rocks or concrete planks, while others are simply native streambed materials. To provide a solid running surface for vehicles, replace any missing components that may have moved or disappeared, such as this clean sediment-free load of rock. Remember, this kind of work may require authorizations from regulating agencies. Using this program, you may have noticed that as we read the traveled way, we were able to immediately implement some short-term solutions, such as erecting traffic control devices and safety signs. We were also able to accomplish some emergency damage control. Longer-term solutions involving heavy equipment and major changes to the road usually require the approval of your road maintenance supervisor. Other specialists who may need to be consulted include civil engineers, geotechnical engineers, biologists and hydrologists. Proper road maintenance begins and ends with you, the worker on site. No one is out on the roads more often or knows them better. Being able to read the road correctly is the first and most important step in effective road maintenance. In the long run, this practice saves both time and money and it preserves the safety of drivers at the health of both the road and its surrounding ecosystems.